What if I crash? What if a dog runs out into the middle of the street and I don’t have time to stop? What if the wheel blows or the sunroof explodes or my windshield suddenly shatters?
The next time negative or anxious thoughts invade your brain, don’t start tearing out your hair in despair. A new study says you can instead get rid of them by simply writing them down and throwing them in the trash.
The study, published in the journal Psychological Science, conducted a trio of experiments where subjects wrote down positive and negative thoughts and then processed them in various ways.
They left them on their desks, put them in their pockets, or threw them in the trash. Leaving the thoughts on the desk, even if they were subsequently ignored, kept the thoughts in the people’s minds. Putting the thoughts in a pocket or purse actually magnified the things, making them easier to recall and seemingly more important.
Those that chucked their thoughts in the trash were able to clear them from their heads.
The physical action of throwing the thoughts away, whether in an actual trash can or even dragging a thought fie into the computer’s recycle bin, did wonders for eradicating them.
Goodbye, wayward dog. Good riddance, shattered windshield. Au revoir, exploding sunroof.
Read more at the Association for Psychological Science website: http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/bothered-by-negative-unwanted-thoughts-just-throw-them-away.html
